Zoocalligraphy

BibliOdyssey has a fascinating post on Islamic Zoocalligraphy, pictures of animals (and sometimes people) shaped by Arabic lettering, which seems to be especially well suited to the art form because of its flowing shapes. One set of prints by a modern Sudanese artist, Hassan Musa, contains a picture that rang a bell with me:The hunched figure of the rider, the lowered head of the horse, and the foot of the rider thrust past the forearm of the horse, mimicking the angle of the spear, are reminiscent of James Earle Fraser's "End of the Trail." I wonder if Musa made this reference, either deliberately or inadvertently, or if this is just a random cross-cultural echo.